Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan reacts to continuing violence in Portland
Mark Morgan, acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, joins 'Fox & Friends' with reaction.
“It’s just a matter of time where someone is going to die if this is not stopped,” acting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) commissioner Mark Morgan told “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Sunday reacting to the violence in Portland,Ore. overnight.
Unrest continued in Portland on Saturday night into Sunday morning, with police declaring a riot just after midnight near the Penumbra Kelly Building, which houses public safety offices, according to reports.
Rioters were seen hurling rocks, bottles and other objects at police officers, Portland’s KGW-TV reported.
Police warned rioters that fail to leave the area would be subject to “citation, arrest, and/or crowd control agents, including but not limited to tear gas and/or impact weapons.”
The city has seen nightly unrest for nearly three months., since the May 25 death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.
When asked how the violence ends, Morgan said that in Portland local leaders need “to step up” and “do their job.”
He added that they need to let law enforcement officers in that area “do what they know needs to be done to stop this lawlessness.”
“We've seen almost 90 days [of] complete ineptness of local leadership to do what they need to do and let the law enforcement officers do what needs to be done to end this,” Morgan continued. “It's outrageous.”
On Saturday, President Trump urged leaders in Oregon to request federal assistance with quelling the violence.
DUELING PORTLAND CLASHES SHUT DOWN STREETS, AS POLICE TRY TO MANAGE CHAOS
Morgan noted on Sunday that “right now the district attorney there locally is only going to go ahead and prosecute those for serious crimes committed there.”
“So someone can go there and actually resist a police officer and not be prosecuted for that,” he added. “It's unbelievable and then they're curious why they go right back out and reoffend. It’s simply ridiculous.”
Earlier this month Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced a new policy, which drops charges against people who were arrested for interfering with a peace officer or parole and probation officer, disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, escape, harassment and riot -- unless they were accompanied by some other charge of physical violence or property damage.
Host Jedediah Bila said that 18 riots have been declared in Portland and at least 500 arrests were made since May 29.
“If you don't go in there and stop this, this is what you're going to see, and it’s getting worse,” Morgan said. “Now you have groups on the other side coming. Now they're clashing with each other. It’s just a matter of time where someone is going to die if this is not stopped.”
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Fox News’ Dom Calicchio, Vandana Rambaran and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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